Anatomy of a photo illustration

Remember how Bo Jackson sometimes used to break a bat over his knee or over his head when he struck out?As it turns out, that’s not so easy.

Remember how Bo Jackson sometimes used to break a bat over his knee or over his head when he struck out?

As it turns out, that’s not so easy.

When our Sports department needed a photo illustration for its story “Cracking the System” – about how the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association goes about changing its rules, (in this case, switching to wooden bats) – we bought a wooden bat and set about trying to break it for the illustration.

The effort, caught on video courtesy of sports writer Jon Couture’s camera phone, was a misadventure to be sure.

Click here to watch the video and you will see how – given enough perseverance – two grown men can indeed break a wooden baseball bat.

(And thanks to the editors in question for being good sports about sharing this video)